This wouldn’t really be a proper blog about Taipei if we didn’t mention the food. Wait, you are in quarantine, right? Yes, yes we are. We are in quarantine in Taipei. Our quarantine hotel package includes three meals a day, and we’re also allowed to order delivery of outside meals via UberEats, Food Panda, etc. Although I’m not vegetarian, I do appreciate the daily vegetarian choices, and the vegetarian bento boxes have been some of my favorites. The meal we most look forward to is breakfast, since we have five choices of Chinese breakfasts or the Western breakfast of the day. We love calling Philip around this time to do the big reveal, so he can join in on the excitement. Jules’ favorite meals during quarantine are the fast food options we’re given twice a week. He’s tried Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonald’s for the first time while in Taiwan, while in quarantine.
I was most worried about missing my morning coffee here, but the hotel provides me with a large, freshly brewed cup every morning while Jules is spoiled with freshly squeezed orange juice every day. We saw some YouTube videos of quarantiners who weren’t given any fresh fruit for two weeks, so we feel very lucky with our abundance of fresh fruit and vegetables daily.
For the first week, we were pretty content with the provided meals, but one can only eat so many bento boxes. As a midway treat, we ordered Taiwan’s most famous soup dumplings from Din Tai Fung. Only in this city of foodies can one have dumplings from a Michelin-star restaurant delivered while in quarantine. Amazing.
Yesterday, I realized that I made a tragic error in calculating our last day of quarantine. I thought we were getting out one day sooner, and let me tell ya, that one day definitely makes a difference when you’re squinting hard, almost imagining that pinpoint of light at the end of the tunnel. To make up for my mistake, I surprised Jules with his favorite bubble milk tea in Taipei from Chun Shui Tang. I also threw in some kung fu noodles, sauteed cabbage and braised bean curd while I was at it.